Diversion dam



C. WEBER DIVERSION DAM March 21, 1933.

Filed Deo. l, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oqk lm IQLOMNE A9 Caml VVeber,

Patented Mar. 21, 1933 CARL F JACKSONVILLE, FIIIDB/VIDA-V` -V I DIVERSION DAM l y Appneation meanecember 1, .1930. sensing- 499,355.

' This invention relates to subaqueousdiversion dams, sometimes called ground weirs, groynes, dikes or sills, which are laid on the beds of streams or rivers to divert G the flow of the water.v 'Such diversions of flow are requiredv for vvarious purposes, such as, the prevention of shore erosion, the removal or prevention of sand or mud banks, the control of navigable '-channels, the straightening of the river bed, or the building up oflow lands by accretion, for examle. P The use of these dams has, however, heretofore been a very restricted one, on account of their cost, especially in deep water. They have been built of such materials as fascines, broken stone, ballasted wood cribbing, etc., but have not proved satisfactory on account oftheir insufficient density and lack of' a sufliciently even and smooth `upstream face.

The use of cofier damsand caissons is adapted lfor very short dams only, closeto shore and in quiet and shallow water, and such dams are very costly.

The object of my invention is to provide a mode of construction of diversion dams, which is economical and efficient, by which such dams can be built on shore in sections, floated to place andV sunk in any depth of 30 water, without the need of any auxiliary or temporary structures, such as coHer dams,

for example.

The new dam is composed of a plurality of separate, hollow, watertight sections, made of wood, steel or concrete, or a com,- bination of such materials. These sections. are flexibly connected together, so that the resulting dam may be ableto conform itself to uneven surfaces on the river bed. The spaces between the `adjoining sections are covered or bridged over by Ina-ts of sufficient flexibility to adapt themselves to the sections, veven when the alinement of the same is' imperfect due to uneven ground or other cause.

The construction of a typical subaqueous diversion dam', in .accordance with my invention, will now be described in detailvwith reference to .the accompanying drawings, in

which,

Fig. 1 illustrates the dam inplace on a riverbed; V Fig. `2 isa front elevation ofsevera-l sections'of the dam connected together; `i

Fig. 3 is va cross section ofone vof the -scctional units of the damofF-igs. l* and 2,

Fig. 4 is a cross section of: a unit of -a different shape; Y Fig. 5 is a 4plan view, yon a small scale, of theunit of Fig. 4 and of the end of an ad. 60 jacent unit connected-thereto; 1 Fig. 6 isfanend view olla unit of somewhat dilerent constructionyand Figf'isja detail section yofte connecting means of a pair ofthe units ofvFg 6.

These views are intended -toshow how the principle ofthe invention may be embodied, but many variations'of thestructures shown v can be -made without'departing from the` principle. y Y As stated above, the Vdamis made up of any desired number' of individual units or sections l, which are f hollow, `watertigh-t casings of such dimensions and weight'tlrat they will floatan'd which are provided with 75 openings 2, seeFig. 2, to admit water when f they "are 'to be sunkfor 'with' openings of greater size if theyv` are to 'beloaded with Vsandv or stone. The `openings are closed, of

course, when the Vsections arevfloated. Air

vents 3 are provided in the upper' part of each unit to allow ythe Vair toescape when the ballast is admitted. "Eyebolts or 'hooks are provided for the attachment of control cables, which are removed after the damhafsbeen sunk. The flexible means for connect- -the units .together yconsistsin Figs. 2 5, of

cables 6, V.made'ast to eyebolts .5, securedat the top and bottom of each unit. The length Y ,of these cable couplingsdetermines the degrec vof flexibility of lthe dam. 'Greater space. ing of :the units is required for Ydams which are to be placed Ion a very irregular .river 1 bed than for those yw-hich .areto be laid on 'v i* flat bottoms. In fthe latter case, longer units,

closely coupled, are ladvantageously` used, y

VVheneverl'ong couplings makefi-t necessary cross lashings 7, consisting of steel rods or cables and also v:secured to *said` 'eyebolts l'5, 10" l timber wales 19 secured thereto.

are used to give additional lateral stability and improved longitudinal alinement.

he unit, shown in Fig. 6, is built of steel plates, reinforced by angle irons at the edges and having channel-irons 9, riveted to the center of the ends, top and bottom. This unit is more nearly rectangular than those of Figs'. l and 2 and has its up and downstream sides slightly concave. This is illustrative of the fact that the units ,may have any desired shape. A different form of connecting means is also here shown. This means consists of an I-beam l0, riveted Within the channel iron 9 on one end of the unit,

and two small channel-irons 1l, riveted within the channel-iron 9`on the other end by means of one of their legs, so as to leave a space l2 between the en'dsrofv their other legs, through which space the web 13 of the -beam 10,'on the end of an adjacent unit, extends, thus providing for alimited relative angular movement betweentheunits. The gaps or spaces ybetween/the several units must be closed on the upstream side of the dam, and-.this iseifected by sealing mats 15, havinga certain amount of flexi-Y bility and secured to. one unitV along one edge, the other 'edge of the mat being Yleft v free tov accommodate vitself to the surface of the ,adjoining unit. These matsY may be made ofrubber, canvas kor thin reinforced concrete plates, the reinforcement, inthe lattercase, being'of wire mesh orfthe like, capable of flexing slightly. The water pressure, .assisted bythe weight of the mat, will press the latter against the units to a sufficientlyclose lit'. Any cracks in the mats are l of fno consequence, since the reinforcement v will prevent rupture. The small amount of 40 seepage, vthat may percolate through such cracks, is negligible, as the cracksY are quickly closed by silting and accretion. The Vmats areput in place before the dam is submerged, fso that no diving or other submarine work is necessary. Y

The triangular units, shown in Figs. I2, 3, and 4y aremade of reinforced vconcrete `17, with a topy timber walel8 and two botltom T lese wales serve to equalize and take up the longitudinal stresses, especially duringthe sinking operation, and .to distribute the bending and torsional stresses set up when the dam rests'on uneven ground. This permits the use of relatively light reinforced concretev construction. The wales may be reinforced, if necessary, by rods or flat irons 20, see Fig. 2.v The 'bottom wales also serve the'purpose of sealing the dam by sinking intothe softA ground and thusshutting olf the HOW of 'Water under the dam. On hard and'uneven river beds, or where additional security against underflow `is desired, a deposit 2l, Fig. 3, of rip-rap stonev or gravel can be placed on the upstream side. Y

Fig.' lshows a form of unit which is urisymmetrical in shape, that is, heavier on one .side .than the other, and having a verticalV upstream side. To balance these units, provide temporary rafts, pontoons or airV chambers 23, by which the units are floated and sunk in the Ycorrect position. They are detached as soon as the dam 1s submerged.

Internal bracing 24 is provided wherever form of reinforcement mayjbeselected for the intended purpose.r f'

'In order to .describe morecompletely the general method of the building of such'd'ains it becomes necessary to select, as thebasis of such description, a somewhat definite installation. The details of yoperation for the forming and placingfof subaqueous diver-k sion dams must naturally be adjusted Vto the various conditions of the 'shore-line, depth and velocity of current ofthe water, equipment available and many other contingencies. Y

Therefore, for present purposes, the following assumptions are made: Q i

Q vl. The dam shall be built under shore and water conditions, as shown in Fig.' l, at right angles tothe shore-line.

2. Reinforced concrete construction, i as shown in Figs. 2,3, and 4:, has been selected metall, it is evident-that any other type or v 1l. The-river bed consists of alluvial soil deposit andis reasonably free of obstructions such as rocks, tree stumps, old piling, wrecks or the like.

5. There are no rshore line obstructions such as landing piers, docks, houses, trees or the like that hinder free access to the work or require special working arrangements.

After the necessary surveys and soundings Basedupon these assumptions the convstruction of the dam proceeds as follows:

have been made the details of designs are worked out. These details show whether orv not the dam can be built of sections all of the same height and length or,`if Vin order to obtain an even grade of the top of the dam, certain sections must be built of greater height, to take .care of depressionsv in' the" river bed. If it is' advisable to eXcavate or The Vdam sections are built atany conve-` '130 nient place, whereverwater transportation quantity of the initial ballastingl material.

to the dam site is available and where working conditions, material and labor supply and other provisions are most favorable.

The dam-units v may be built in a drydock, on pontoons lor in bark-like floating forms, on marine railways or the like if such conveniences are available. f v v The cheapest and most efficient way, however, is to fabricate the dam sections on land during a low-flood stage of the river and toV utilize the rising water for the lioatation of the dam.

If the dam can be built during eXtreme low water periods, which exposes the river bed for a sufficienti long time, the dam could, 0f course, be built right in place at the dam site. This condition, however, is only possible in rivers that` run lpractically dry during certain periods of the year or that are controlled by locks or dams. Subaqueous diversion dams, such as are herein specified, are, however, seldom used in such rivers or the like.

The building of the various dam units proceeds in the customary manner, stationary or movable concrete forms are used as desired and the reinforcing steel, concrete wales and attachments are placed in accordance to established construction practice.

Before or immediately after the launching of the dam the units are lined up in proper succession and coupled together as indicated in Figures l, 2, and 5. The dam is then floated by means'of towboats or by the water current to the contemplatedsite. Very long dams may, of course, be transported in two or more parts, which are then united at the proper place. j

Upon arriving at the building site the dam is lined up on the surface of the water, directly above its iinal resting place, and

is held in position by linesattached to the various cells by means of the eyes or hooks, 4, provided for this purpose, until the dam is in the correct sinking position.

`The, next step is the placing and fastening of the sealing mats. The couplings and all other permanent fittings are checked over again and the vent-holes, 3, provided for the escapement of the Ventrapped air within the cells, are opened. 4

The unitsare then filled with water ballast to the point of floating awash, alignment receives a final check and then more ballast is admitted as required, to sink the entire dam structure under steady control and observation.

The sinking process may, of course, be varied in many ways. It may bev preferyl.V A diversion dam vIn this manner, the dam structure actj inglike a'giant chain, can beplaced quickly A and Vaccurately in any desired condition, re-

gardless ofdepth or velocity of the waterY do not' form a part of the contemplated structure. They may be used again for the 52m19-y OI any otherpurpose.l 1

Having thus describ d my invention, what" I claim is: v Y Y composed of sinkable independent hollow units, flexible couplings,- uniting said units and a flexible mat secured to eachunit to overlap the joint between it' and the adjacent unit. Y

2. A diversion dam composed of independent hollow reinforced concrete units, flexible means connecting said units, and flexible reinforced concrete mats over the spaces between the units on the upstream side.

3. A `diversion dam composedof independent hollow-'units of substantially triangular shape, beams reinforcing said units, l openings for admitting ballast for sinking said units, means flexibly connectinv said units at their top and bottom, andlDeXible ,l mats secured by one edge to each unit-and .overlapping the edge of the adjoiningunit.

4. A diversion'dam composedof independent hollow. steel units, channel'irons' on the tops, bottoms and ends ofeach unit, Van I- j beam secured to the channel iron on4 one end of each unit, a pair of small, channel irons secured by one leg to the channel iron on the other'end of each unit, so as to leave a spacebetween the ends of their free legs t6y receive the web of said I-beam, and flexible mats covering the spaces between the units on the upstream side.

Signed at Jacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida this 29th day of November A. D. 1930.

GARL'WEBER.

able to submerge one end or the center of the wall more rapidly than the other sections. This is easily accomplished by a cor- Y j responding adjustment of the opening of the sea-cocks of each unit or by variation inl 

